A brief respite from the rain

One day of sunshine and I am thinking of the patio and outdoor living. Here is some great inspiration.

copyright Jane Schouten

I'm really sorry, I can't remember where I got the first two images from.

At home

I'm always glad when I can cut flowers from the garden.

A propos of absolutely nothing, I want my hair like this.

copyright sitteninthehills64.blogspot.co.uk

Furniture heaven

For me it's all about nesting at the moment. We spent the bank holiday weekend shifting soil. Tons of soil. Again.

We took a sloping garden and are slowly turning it into a tiered garden. We also cut into the garden with an extension and a patio, which is how we are generating all this soil.

So yesterday, courtesy of the weather, I took a welcome break from landscaping the garden to go in search of a small piece of furniture to house my towels and household linen.

Here is where I went. Wonderful place, and the ideology behind it makes you really want to support it.

I didn't find what I was after because the space on the landing is quite small and none of the narrower pieces of furniture were quite right. I love these carved pieces and the bamboo effect drawers.

If this bench had been for sale, I would have had it. It reminds me of Cyrus Todiwala's restaurant.

Childhood dreams

As a child I wanted to be a ballerina. Not just any ballerina you understand; I wanted to be a prima ballerina, like my childhood hero, Dame Margot Fonteyn.
When we came home to the UK on leave, my mother would take us to see the ballet at Covent Garden. We saw Copelia, La Fille Mal Gardee, Swan Lake, Giselle and others. I remember being there, in the theatre, waiting for the curtain to come up, feeling the excitement and anticipation of what was to come and imagining myself in future years being one of the dancers.
Naturally I had lessons, and for lessons you need a leotard and shoes. And where did we get them? Well, here! In this shop which I stumbled across on our trip to London. E Gandolfi has been there on Marylebone Road since 1949. I can't tell you how excited I was to trip over it nearly forty years after our first visit.
I had red leather shoes and a pink leotard. :)

 

Here is a picture of Fonteyn which hangs in my bedroom. I have another of her and Nureyev together in Giselle. Amazing to think that she was in her forties when they started dancing together and that she carried on dancing until she was 60. 

A lovely workplace

I went over to the home of a friend today. I love her style of decor. She has lots of lovely old pieces of furniture, and the feel is very lived in and comfortable. Every time I go over there, I remind her that if she ever gets tired of her sofa and chairs that I will take pity and give them a home. It's the barley twist oak bits that I am a sucker for.
Here is where she works, looking out on her garden. Isn't it lovely? That's her beautiful boy, Claude and his Bagpuss toy.

Wilmot, Ohio

I want to go here!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I am slowly starting to develop a real fascination for the U S of A. Maybe I fancy a road trip. I NEED to go here. Wilmot, Ohio, home of the world's largest cuckoo clock! :)

The fact that it is in Amish country only serves to make it more attractive to me.

I would also go here and here and here...

In praise of topiary

I've always loved topiary. The denseness of the colour of the yew hedges which are often used and the shapes and combinations that you can get with it. Do you remember Lytes Cary from last year? Well now I have come across these amazing pictures from a place called Castle Markizyak which is in the Dordogne region in France.
The shape of these hedges reminds me of pebbles on a beach. Quite unexpected and somehow quite modern. I would love to visit this garden at night with that wonderful lighting you see on the third picture.
As for that bottom picture; what about that for a terrace? Awe-inspiring. I don't think I would ever get bored of that view.

I have just discovered how to make pictures bigger, like this one at the bottom. I think I might use that a bit more.